NEW YORK—The city of Buffalo, N.Y., did not discriminate against African-Americans in a test it used to promote firefighters, said a divided federal appellate court panel Friday.

The Men of Color Helping All Society Inc. had filed suit against the city, its fire department, and the fire department's commissioner and deputy commissioner based on 1998 and 2002 firefighter promotion exams that derived from a common statewide job analysis, according to the ruling in M.O.C.H.A. Society Inc. vs. City of Buffalo by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.

In the 1998 test, the 179 white firefighters who took the test had a 74.3% pass rate, while the 89 black firefighters had only a 42.6% pass rate. There was a “significant disparity” in the 2002 test results as well, according to the ruling.

The group charged the defendants with race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A district court found Buffalo had successfully demonstrated the test was job related and consistent with business despite the 1998 exam. It also awarded defendants summary judgment on the disparate treatment challenge to the 1998 test.

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The appellate panel agreed with the district court in its 2-1 ruling. The district court heard extensive evidence as to how an independent state agency had determined, based on evidence drawn from fire departments across New York and the nation, that the job of fire lieutenant “involves common tasks requiring essentially the same skills, knowledge, abilities and personal characteristics” and “developed a general test based on those findings,” said the ruling.

“The district court had sufficient evidence to make a preponderance finding that Buffalo's use of that test to promote fire fighters to the rank of fire lieutenant was job related and consistent with business necessity,” it said, in affirming the lower court's decisions.

Previous cases

Last year, the city of Chicago < a href="/article/20110819/NEWS07/110819805" target="_blank">paid $47 million to settle a lawsuit brought by black firefighters who alleged a 1995 test was discriminatory.

In June 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court in Frank Ricci et al. vs. John DeStefano et al. ruled in favor of 17 firefighters who sued New Haven, Conn. The city rejected the 2003 captain and lieutenant's promotion exams out of fear it would be sued for discrimination by minority candidates.